The Moravian women’s basketball team is the NCAA Division III winner of the 2014 Kay Yow Cancer Fund Play 4Kay Contest with$12,573 raised this season, the sixth consecutive year the Greyhounds have led NCAA Division III schools in Play 4Kay.

The contest is an effort to reward participating teams in the Play 4Kay who are also raising funds for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund®, in partnership with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

Moravian also was the top NCAA Division III team in 2013 with $16,210, in 2012 with $12,025, in 2011 with $5,825 and in 2010 at $6,100. The Greyhounds had a total of $5,200 in 2009 for $57,933 raised the last six years.

“The Moravian College women’s basketball team, players and coaching staff, are honored to be recognized as the top Division III fundraising team for a sixth straight year,” coach Mary Beth Spirk said. “Each year we have embraced the challenge to raise money for this cause with the same passion and drive that we approach each opponent throughout the season. Cancer is an opponent who we want to beat.

"Our contribution to beating this disease will hopefully help make this happen. For my assistants and my players, along with the community here in Bethlehem and Springfield, New Jersey, it is a privilege to accept this award for our program, but especially for all those who continue to fight.”

Coach Spirk along with the head coaches from Penn State (NCAA Division I), Queens (N.C.) University (NCAA Division II), Georgetown (Ky.) College (NAIA), Trinity Valley Community College (JC/CC), St. Agnes Academy-Houston, Texas (High School/AAU) and Harrells Christian Academy (North Carolina High School/AAU) will be presented a plaque at the 2014 Wow 4You Party at the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association National Convention during the NCAA Division I Final Four.

“Throughout the entire 2014 Play 4Kay initiative, Coach Yow’s vision and mission were realized as coaches, student-athletes and fans joined together in a very meaningful and powerful way to raise awareness and funds,” Kay Yow Cancer Fund Executive Director Sue Donohoe said. “For the eighth consecutive year, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund is so very appreciative of the passion and commitment of coaches and student-athletes from across the country to step up and Play 4Kay.”

From February 7 to 17, teams from across the country participated in Play 4Kay games and made donations to support the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. ESPN® supported the national effort by airing seven Play 4Kay games across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU on Sunday, February 16 and Monday, February 17.

Coach Yow believed strongly that the sporting community had an incredible opportunity to use its shared sense of purpose, passion and camaraderie to support a cause much larger than the game. It was her goal, through the Play 4Kay initiative, to unite coaches, student-athletes and fans in the fight against women’s cancers.

Since the inception of the Play 4Kay initiative in 2007, the program has raised more than $2.6 million in support of women’s cancer research and related projects. The fundraising total for the 2014 campaign will be announced at a later date.

Moravian is the only six-time winner in the six-year history of the contest.

Terrance King and Duane Johnson, who led East Stroudsburg University to the 2012 PSAC men’s basketball championship and three NCAA Tournament appearances, are embarking on professional careers overseas.

King recently returned from Ireland, where he spent his first season with UCD-Marian in Ireland’s Superleague.

King was seventh in the league in scoring (18.5 ppg), sixth in rebounding (10.4 rpg) and blocked shots (1.7 bpg) and led the league in field goal percentage (68.1 percent). He scored in double figures in all 17 games.

He had 10 double-doubles with season highs of 31 points, 17 rebounds and eight blocked shots. He scored more than 20 points seven times and had three games with at least 15 rebounds. UCD-Marian finished with an 8-10 record.

Johnson, who signed with the Corio Bay Stingrays in Australia’s State League, is four games into his pro career, which began on March 15.

The Stingrays are 4-0, with Johnson averaging 23.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. He had 25 points and six rebounds in his debut, and followed up with games of 18 points, 23 points and 27 points and 12 rebounds in his most recent outing.

Johnson’s next game is Saturday at 8 p.m. (5 a.m. on the East Coast).

In their four years at ESU, Johnson and King led the Warriors to unprecedented success, including a 24-6 season and NCAA Division II Tournament appearance as freshmen which helped lay the groundwork for this year’s historic 30-2 season.

They led ESU to an 82-37 record from 2009-10 through 2012-13, including the 2012 PSAC championship when King was named MVP with 22.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in three games in the tournament.

King was a two-time All-PSAC East selection, earning a spot on the first team as a senior, and the PSAC East Freshman of the Year in 2010. He graduated eighth at ESU in career points (1,337), seventh in rebounds (690), fourth in field goal percentage (56.4) and third in ESU history and 10th in PSAC history in blocked shots (180).

Johnson was named All-PSAC East as a sophomore, junior and senior, earning first team recognition as a junior on the 2012 PSAC championship team. He left ESU seventh in career points (1,347), ninth in rebounds (608), fourth in steals (148) and eighth in blocks (90). He was just the third three-time All-PSAC East selection in program history.

East Stroudsburg junior guard Whis Grant was named to the Division II Bulletin's All-America honorable mention team for the second consecutive season and forward Rasheed Moore was named to the All-Freshman Team.

Grant was previously named to the Basketball Gazette All-America third team last week. He is the third multiple-time All-American in program history, joining Jonathan Roberts (1988-90) and Don Bones (1980-81).

Moore is one of 10 players named to the All-Freshman team, and the only one from the Atlantic Region. Moore was named PSAC East Freshman of the Year and a second team All-PSAC East selection, just the second ESU freshman to earn an all-conference spot in school history.

Grant (17.6 ppg) and Moore (13.6 ppg) were the top two scorers in a record-setting season for the Warriors, who finished with a 30-2 record and No. 2 ranking in the final NABC poll of the regular season.

ESU was the Atlantic Region’s No. 1 seed and advanced to the regional final for the second time in program history, falling 89-82 to West Liberty, the eventual national runner-up, on March 18.

Grant and Moore led ESU to its second PSAC championship in three years, fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in five years, third PSAC East title in five years and the program’s fifth consecutive Final Four.

Last Friday, ESU head coach Jeff Wilson was named the Division II national coach of the year by the Basketball Times. He was also named NABC Atlantic Region Coach of the Year for the second time in five seasons.

Grant has been ESU’s top scorer in all three seasons on campus, averaging 17.6 points in both of the last two years after scoring 13.9 per game as a freshman on the Warriors’ 2012 PSAC championship team.

He was named to the Daktronics and DII Bulletin All-America honorable mention teams as a sophomore, and was a DII Bulletin “Super 16” selection entering this season.

Grant averaged 17.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals during his junior season for the Warriors. He set a school record with 88 three-pointers and scored 562 points, sixth-most in school history and the most since Roberts scored 689 points as a senior in 1990.

He was named to the Atlantic Regional All-Tournament team with 29 points in a 99-98 win over Livingstone, 23 in a 66-58 win over Gannon and 19 against West Liberty in the regional final.

Grant scored 20 or more points in 12 games this season, all against the PSAC East or in the NCAA Tournament. He scored a career-high 31 points in a 107-94 win at West Chester on January 25, and averaged 17.0 points in three PSAC Tournament games, including 19 in ESU’s 92-80 win over West Chester in the championship game on March 9.

He will enter his senior season with 1,487 career points, fourth in school history. He was the third Warrior to score 1,000 career points as a junior, joining Roberts and Don Bones, the top two scorers in program history.

Moore was the second-leading scorer (13.6 ppg) and top rebounder (6.3 rpg) as a freshman on the No. 2-ranked team in Division II. He also led ESU in field goal percentage (50.8), ranked second in blocks (24) and third in minutes (27.7 mpg) behind Grant and junior point guard Matt Tobin.

He scored 435 points and grabbed 203 rebounds, both second-most in ESU’s freshman record book which goes back to 1974-75.

He was named to the All-PSAC East second team, joining Shahad Abdur-Rahkman (1st team, 2000) as the only ESU freshmen to be named all-conference. He was a five-time PSAC East Freshman of the Week.

Moore scored in double figures in 25 of ESU’s 32 games, including two 24-point games, coming in a win at Slippery Rock in December and a win at West Chester in January.

He had three double-doubles, starting with a 20-point, 16-rebound game in a 102-87 win over Lock Haven in December. He also had 13 points and 10 rebounds in a December win at Millersville, and 12 points and 13 rebounds in a January victory at Bloomsburg.

Moore averaged 14.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and shot 53.7 percent from the field in 16 games against the PSAC East.

He had 19 points and nine rebounds, including an 11-for-12 mark at the free throw line, in the PSAC championship game against West Chester. He followed up with 18 points and seven rebounds vs. Livingstone, eight points against Gannon and 17 points and eight rebounds against West Liberty in the NCAA Tournament.

The Moravian women’s basketball team finished the 2013-14 season leading NCAA Division III in blocked shots. Senior forward Laura Jordan, an Easton High grad, was sixth individually.

The Greyhounds blocked a school-record 239 shots in 28 games, an average of 8.5 per game. Moravian’s total came from 14 players with Jordan swatting a career-high 98 shots for an average of 3.63 per game.

“It is a great accomplishment for our team to lead the country,” coach Mary Beth Spirk said. “We played very good help defense, along with great timing with each block. Laura had an outstanding year in the block department. Overall, we knew as a team we had to all increase our output on both ends of the court this season, and we certainly did that by blocking shots.”

Moravian, which was 20-8 and reached the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, registered 47 more blocks and averaged 1.6 more blocks per game than second-place St. Joseph’s (N.Y.) College.

DeSales senior Mike Coleman added another piece of hardware to his post-season list. He was named a DIII Honorable-Mention All-American as announced by the organization early this week.

The guard adds this honor to an ever growing list that includes being named All-Region by the NABC and D3hoops.com, All-Freedom Conference First-Team honors and being named the Freedom Conference Player of the Year.

Coleman led the Bulldogs to a 19-10 overall record and to their third Freedom Conference Championship. He earned Most Valuable Player honors in the Freedom Conference Tournament.

DeSales went on to defeat Randolph-Macon in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Mary Washington in the second round.

Coleman finished the year averaging 16.1 points per game, ranking sixth in the Freedom Conference. He also averaged 4.8 rebounds per game, third on the team. He finished his career with 1,179 career points, 15th all-time at DeSales.

Bloomsburg University senior Cat Noack, a Liberty High graduate, earned honorable mention All-America Team honors from the Women's Basketball Division II Coaches Association (WBCA) after leading the Huskies to the Sweet 16 in 2013-14.

It is the latest post-season award for Noack after being named Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Player of the Year and to the Daktronics All-Atlantic Region First Team.

The Bethlehem native turned in one of the finest seasons in school history, helping the Huskies to a 26-5 overall record as well a fourth consecutive outright PSAC East crown and their highest national ranking in 12 years. She also was named to the NCAA Atlantic Region All-Tournament Team after averaging more than 20 points per game as the Huskies advanced to the national Sweet 16 with back-to-back wins over nationally-ranked Virginia State and Glenville State.

Noack led the Huskies in scoring at 16.5 points per game this season while adding 3.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steals. She registered elite shooting numbers, averaging 51.4 percent from the floor (171-for-333), 49.5 percent from 3-point range (96-194) and 88.9 percent at the foul line (72-81).

She set single-season school percentage records for free throw and 3-point shooting - surpassing the 88.3 percent foul line total posted by East Stroudsburg South grad Kelsey Gallagher in 2010-11 and broke the previous 3-point percentage mark of 46.9 percent, a school and PSAC record held since 1998 by Christie Berry.

Noack finishes her Bloomsburg career 10th in BU career scoring with 1,274 points and second in 3-pointers with 249. The 96 3-pointers she connected on this season were second-most in school history, just one away from the 97 by former Liberty and Bloom teammate Dana Wieller during the 2011-12 campaign.

Noack also took over the school record for career 3-point shooting percentage at 43.5 percent (249-572). During her four years in maroon and gold, Noack partnered with fellow senior Brianna Dudeck to record 98 victories, tying the winningest four-year period in school history while reaching the NCAA Tournament three consecutive seasons.

East Stroudsburg University junior guard Whis Grant has been named to the Basketball Times Division II All-America third team, becoming the third multiple-time All-America selection in program history.

Grant joins Jonathan Roberts, a three-time All-American from 1988-90, and Don Bones (1980-81) as the only Warriors to earn multiple All-America honors in men’s basketball.

Grant was named to All-America honorable mention teams by Daktronics (sports information directors) and the Division II Bulletin as a sophomore last season. Roberts was an NABC Kodak honorable mention selection as a sophomore and junior, and a consensus second team All-American by the NABC, Basketball Gazette and Associated Press as a senior in 1990.

Grant led the Warriors (30-2) to the top season in program history this winter, which finished with a No. 2 national ranking in the final NABC Top 25 poll of the regular season.

ESU set a program record with 30 wins, captured its second PSAC championship in three years, played in the NCAA DII Tournament for the fourth time in five years and was the Atlantic Region runner-up after earning the region’s No. 1 seed.

Grant was previously named first team All-Region by Daktronics and the NABC for the second consecutive season. The Division II Bulletin All-America team will be announced later this spring.

Grant averaged 17.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals during his junior season for the Warriors. He set a school record with 88 three-pointers and scored 562 points, sixth-most in school history and the most since Roberts scored 689 points as a senior in 1990.

He was named to the Atlantic Regional All-Tournament team with 29 points in a 99-98 win over Livingstone, 23 in a 66-58 win over Gannon and 19 in an 89-82 loss to West Liberty in the regional final.

Grant scored 20 or more points in 12 games this season, all against the PSAC East or in the NCAA Tournament. He scored a career-high 31 points in a 107-94 win at West Chester on January 25, and averaged 17.0 points in three PSAC Tournament games, including 19 in ESU’s 92-80 win over West Chester in the championship game.

He enters his senior season with 1,487 career points, fourth most in school history. He was the third Warrior to score 1,000 career points as a junior, joining Roberts and Don Bones, the top two scorers in program history.

Grant has led ESU in scoring in each of his first three seasons, averaging 17.6 points as a sophomore and junior after scoring 13.9 per game as a freshman on the Warriors’ 2012 PSAC championship team.

ESU is 72-21 in Grant’s three years, advancing to the NCAA Tournament each season and winning PSAC titles in 2012 and 2014.

He is one of eight non-seniors among the 25 Division II players selected to All-America teams so far this season.

West Liberty senior guard Cedric Harris was a first-team Basketball Times pick.

Lamont Tillery, who never took a practice rep with the first team, was a first-team energy guy with inside-outside offensive skills and a relentless approach to rebounding.

On and on.

The Warriors did their coach, an ESU alum, proud. Friends on campus made time to come to Koehler Fieldhouse to watch their teamwork on display. They made the ESU community and Pocono community stand up and take notice.

Crowds at the PSAC and Atlantic Region tournaments were electric. Standing-room only. Chilling moments galore, including Grant's defense of Livingstone's Mark Thomas on a potential game-winning shot in the regional quarterfinals and Dajon Todmann's thunderous baseline dunk and follow-up swat in a 10-second span of the regional title game.

For all of it, Wilson couldn't be prouder.

After Tuesday's season-ending loss set in and Wilson had done his best to hold back tears at the postgame press conference, Zech Runkle, ESU's lone senior (actually, a sixth-year grad student), was posing for picture after picture with about 20 members of his fan club/family.

His uniform still on, his game battle scars still fresh, Runkle did it all laughing and smiling.

Perhaps he was delaying the inevitable of taking off that jersey for the last time.

The second One Run for Boston Relay began Sunday along the California coast and is traveling through 14 states before ending in Boston leading up to the Boston Marathon on April 13.

The goal is to raise $1 million for the victims of last year’s marathon bombing.

Several local runners will participate in the two stages that will be coming through the Lehigh Valley: Jackie Hollan and Melissa Hager are part of the group during stage 297, which runs from Lizard Creeek to Walnutport on April 10.

Hollan and Hager will hand off the baton to Runner's World chief running officer Bart Yasso. Yasso’s group will be running stage 298 to Bath.

For more information on this event and how to donate: go to www.onerunforboston.org and on Facebook at One Run for Boston.

Morning Call Sports Reporters Stephen Miller and Tom Housenick blog about high school and college sports action on and off the field in and around the Lehigh Valley, only at themorningcall.com.

Meet the bloggers

TOM HOUSENICK watches every move Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum makes on the court, laughs at every joke by Lafayette coach Fran O’Hanlon and watches all the Divisions II and III coaches and players do it for the love of the game. Basketball makes the cold weather season go by fast. Already can’t wait for late February and early March when each possession could result in a season ending or continuing on.

Wrapping up his ninth year at The Morning Call, STEPHEN MILLER is back for year No. 4 on the LVC football beat. He chronicled Central Catholic's state-championship run in 2010, watched Nazareth win its first LVC title in 2011 and saw the league crown tri-champions for the first time in 2012. He has also covered the Phillies, college football and a variety of prep sports while with The Morning Call. To stay updated on the 2013 LVC football season, check out the Varsity blog and follow him on Twitter @mcall_smiller.